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Strategy

n Does the strategy that we have chosen offer a rational, even if
unconventional route to sustainable success in the real world?

n How will we communicate the strategy to those who have to make
it work?

n What objectives does it imply?
n Does it make the optimal use of our strengths, competencies,

capabilities and resources?
n Will it make a significant contribution to the sustainable

prosperity of the organization in the short term as well as in the
longer term?
n Will it pay for itself in a reasonable time?
n Can it be explained in simple terms to all those who will make it
work?
– In short, does it meet all the requirements of Lambert’s Laws?

Summary

I Tactics are usefully defined as, “making sure that we do the right
I things today”. A strategy must ensure that you are still doing the
I right things ten years down the track. That means that you have
I to regard it as tentative and flexible yet robust enough to deliver
I success in a volatile environment.

Comparative/competitive analysis

n Do we really know what our best customers in each segment want?
n Specifically, how good are we at satisfying their needs?
n Taking each major competitor individually by name, how good is

each in comparison to us?
n Where do our competitive advantages lie?
n Who are our weakest competitors?
n Who are their most worthwhile customers?
n What is our strategy for attracting those customers?
n How do we gear up our marketing and sales operation to ensure

that we attract the best customer’s business?
n Which competitors do we attack next, and next and . . . ?
n How do we dump those of our customers that are more trouble

than they are worth and concentrate our resources on worthwhile
business?

The big picture 19